Meltdown
by Third Kind
Summary: In the future, Lisa is a depressed shut-in who has not left the family house in years. One night, however, she randomly decides to take a chance and goes outside of her own accord; but as she explores her home town, her sanity begins to slip... Inspired by the Vocaloid song, 'Meltdown', by Kagamine Rin. Darkfic. Rated for safety. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**My first Simpsons fanfic! While I have always loved the show, I never really had any interesting ideas for an actual fanfic about it... until I got inspired by the VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin song, 'Meltdown'. And thus, this story was born.**

**Quick note: This story is going to be a darkfic set in the future, so there is a high chance of me taking liberties with canon characterization and events. If you do spot anything off, then I apologize for canon derailment. Regardless, I still hope you will enjoy this story.**

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**Chapter One**

The snow slowly drifted onto the town of Springfield below, adding a couple more centimetres to the white blanket formed some days ago. A full moon was out that night, but it was being shrouded ominously by clouds. The town itself may have been in the grip of winter, but there were hardly any people on the streets, or any cars on the roads; nor were many houses or businesses still awake either – except for the looming nuclear power plant. Steam was belching from its cooling towers, suggesting that the night workers at the plant were on duty.

On Evergreen Terrance, meanwhile, a light shone through an upstairs window in one of the houses – an oddity, considering nearly all the other houses in the neighbourhood were dark. The light was coming from a room in the Simpsons household – more specifically, a lamp in the room of Lisa Simpson, but she was no longer an eight-year old girl. She was now a full-grown adult in her twenties, cooping herself up in bed while staring at the snow outside her window, unable to sleep.

Actually, Lisa had been unable to have a good night's sleep for quite a while now. She continued to watch the innocent snow fall delicately onto her garden, letting time pass by absentmindedly. Her parents and younger sister, Maggie, were sleeping well in their own rooms, while her older brother, Bart, had moved away from home some months ago. Despite the fact that she was still living with her family in the house she grew up in, Lisa still felt completely alone in the world.

It was because of the numerous mental health issues she had developed over the years. Aside from sleeping problems, Lisa was also suffering from depression, and she couldn't remember the last time she had left the house of her own accord. In fact, she didn't really like to remember anything from her past. All she could remember now was that her problems began when she entered middle school, and everything all went downhill after that. Her parents had tried their best to support their daughter through her problems, but ultimately, Lisa became a shut-in. She would still go downstairs for meals and acknowledge her family, but while her parents still put on a brave face for her, Maggie just tended to give her a deathly glance. _Maybe she's beginning to hate me_, Lisa thought darkly. Either way, she felt that no-one, not even her own parents, could help her anymore.

Seeing a hint of green beginning to penetrate her eye, Lisa turned towards her digital clock – it was almost midnight. She sighed and laid her head onto her pillow miserably – she still wasn't an inch towards slumber. Not even her eyes felt tired. Then, in an unpredicted act, Lisa got up from bed and crouched down below to search through the bottom of it. Where was that old... ah, there it is.

Lisa pulled out a dusty carrying case and opened it – inside was her old saxophone, unplayed for who knows how many years. Music had always been a part of her soul, but ever since she'd fell hard to depression, her inspiration had completely dried up. She continued to stare at her beloved saxophone for a little longer, until the memories started to return – both the good and the bad. Recoiling, she closed the case as quietly as she could. Not even the more pleasant memories in her life would force Lisa to accept her past.

For a while, the middle Simpson sibling just sat there on her bedroom floor, simply staring at the saxophone case. There were no audible noises around or outside the house – if Lisa had been focusing more on her surroundings, she would have thought that the lack of sound was eerie. A cold feeling then crawled up her spine, causing her to shiver and break out of her trance. What time was it now? She checked her clock – past midnight? She sighed even deeper than before and let her head fall down. She was still nowhere near tired.

Then, at complete random, Lisa got herself up from the floor and started to get changed – from her pyjamas to something more appropriate for going outside in the snow. She didn't exactly know what she was doing, but her mind seemed to be telling her to go out for a walk – in below freezing temperatures, even. Maybe something was telling her that if she went outside, she would probably feel tired afterwards? Lisa didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted to go outside for a walk right now, in the middle of the night.

After she had gotten changed, Lisa slowly opened her door and tip-toed as quietly as she could down the upstairs hallway, being careful not to awaken her parents and little sister. When she went past her parents' room, the door was open slightly, so she could hear her father snoring. Even after all this time, Homer hadn't really changed at all. The door to Maggie's room was shut, so Lisa passed by it without any curiosity.

Once she reached the top of the stairs, Lisa stepped carefully downwards, trying her best not to make it creak. If it did happen to creak, she would flinch and expect her family to come rushing down to find her – but thankfully, that didn't happen. When she managed to get down the stairs without waking anyone up, Lisa searched for a hat, a scarf, a pair of gloves and a coat in the closet. Although she had not gone outside by herself in a long time, she still had common sense to wear winter clothing. After that, she found the keys to the front door, and turned the lock so she could open it – to go outside. To explore the world she had cut herself from for years.

Taking a quick breath, Lisa opened the front door and quickly went outside, feeling a blast of Arctic air envelope her.

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**Remember that this is my first time writing anything for The Simpsons, so I'm still a bit worried about the way I'm handling Lisa and this premise. I know the first chapter was kinda boring, but I hope I can make this story more interesting later on. Feel free to review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**After reading the reviews for the last chapter, I have gained much-needed confidence and faith in this story. Thanks a lot, guys. Enjoy this new chapter.**

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**Chapter Two**

Lisa couldn't actually remember much after she went outside her house – the tension at that moment was too great for her to recall the minuscule details. But she knew she must have at least closed the front door, because she was leaning against it, breathing heavily. Not that Lisa was going to concern herself over something like that. What mattered much more was that she had just stepped outside her home by herself for the first time in years.

And boy, did she feel _wonderful_.

But, now what? Where could she go? Springfield may have been Lisa's oyster right then, but she hadn't really decided where she would actually go for her midnight walk. That, and so much time had passed by since Lisa started locking herself in the house that she was certain many aspects of her home town had changed – buildings may have been demolished or built, people may have moved away or died, the environment may have changed... Anything could have happened in the new Springfield Lisa had just entered. But there was only one way to find out. And at that moment, Lisa decided where she wanted to go for her walk.

To the nuclear power plant.

It was an incredibly strange choice, especially for someone who was once so environmentally conscious like her. Not to mention that it was a bit of a journey on foot, if the amount of time it took to get to the plant via car was any indication. But the Simpson was feeling adamant at that moment. She had a feeling that the plant would be the place that had changed the least since her time in isolation. Her father was still miraculously working there (still in entry position) after all these years, and she still regularly heard gossip from there by him. Speaking of the plant... Was Mr. Burns still alive? How old would he be, anyway? No, don't start with the questions so soon... Keep the speculation away for now.

Her mind now sorted onto a path, Lisa took another deep breath and began to walk away from her house. It was still snowing outside, but she could now truly feel the icy wind slicing against the skin on her face. It was an unpleasant sensation, but Lisa didn't really care. She wanted to go to the power plant at that moment, and nothing was going to stop her.

As she walked down Evergreen Terrace, Lisa began to wonder about her old neighbours – the Flanders', the Wiggums, the Powers'... There were many more people, but because she had not seen them for a very long time, Lisa was struggling to remember who exactly had lived on her street. The three families she had thought of were the ones that popped up in her head first. Unknowingly, the Simpson was also beginning to recall her past – the thing she had locked away in her mind for so long. Not that she really knew at the time.

When Lisa finally left Evergreen Terrace to enter a new street nearby, she was greeted with a bus stop down the pavement – with a small figure happening to be standing near it, obscured by a dark shadow from a nearby streetlight."Someone else is out tonight?" Lisa thought aloud, surprised at seeing another human being outside in the snow. But initially not too concerned about the other person, she carried on walking, listening to the sound of her shoes crunching the snow below as she planned to just go by him or her without question.

But as she approached the bus stop, the person's features became much more clear – and Lisa's eyes widened in shock.

The person looked like a doppelgänger of her younger, eight-year old self.

Startled, the Simpson had to rub her eyes in case she was seeing things. But when she looked towards the person again, she had disappeared completely; like she was a ghost. Becoming heavily confused, Lisa stood frozen in fear – what on earth had just happened? Before, there was a girl who looked so much like her when she was younger standing at the bus stop, but now, she had just disappeared, like she was never there. Her head beginning to hurt from the confusion, Lisa put her hand to her temple. "Am I going crazy?" she thought aloud again, knowing that no-one else was outside at that moment to hear her. Then, she began to laugh quietly and jokingly.

"Ha ha ha... Maybe it's the air, or something," she concluded. "I haven't really breathed fresh air for a long time." Gaining courage once again, Lisa left the bus stop and carried on with her journey towards the nuclear power plant.

She didn't know how long she had been outside for. It was probably past one in the morning now, but time wasn't of Lisa's importance. She had her mission to complete. As she continued to explore Springfield, Lisa found herself going past an old, familiar place – the Kwik-E-Mart. All lights were blaring inside the store, indicating that it was open. From first glance, it still looked like the same 24-hour store she used to know – maybe Apu was still running it, too. She couldn't see him at the register, but Lisa didn't really want him to recognise her through the windows – she might end up in serious trouble with her parents if he saw her. Actually, that was a certainty. Have they realised she's gone missing yet? Or are they still asleep? Either way, the Simpson had only just realised she would be in massive trouble after her little adventure.

Trying to hurry past the Kwik-E-Mart, Lisa briefly glanced across the other side of the road, and saw a sight that made her heart skip a beat - the same girl she'd seen at the bus stop was walking down the street in the same direction as her.

Everything seemed to slow down for Lisa at that moment. It couldn't be – she had disappeared in front of her at the bus stop! Was this lookalike following – no, _stalking_ her or something? It was impossible, insane; everything that was happening right now was insane. Or maybe it was Lisa herself who was going insane...

The Simpson had to let her head fall down to comprehend everything. When she looked across the road again, she couldn't find the girl – again. She had disappeared, like last time. At that point, Lisa was starting to question her sanity. Twice, she had seen a doppelgänger of her younger self, and twice, she had mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Was it really some kind of weird side-effect from going outside for the first time in years? Or was she actually beginning to lose her mind...?

Fear and panic were now starting to grow deep in Lisa's heart. In a sudden rush of adrenaline, she began to run as fast as she could in the snow, managing to get away from the Kwik-E-Mart. The snow was now falling harder, with larger snowflakes beginning to stick to the earth and structures. As Lisa carried on doing her best to run, all sorts of thoughts were running through her mind. _Why is this happening to me?! _She exclaimed mentally. _All I wanted to do was go outside... but now I'm starting to see things that aren't there! _The panic inside her wouldn't fade away as she continued to run through the snow-covered town of Springfield, extremely frightened of seeing the doppelgänger once again.

Lisa only stopped running when she ran out of breath to carry on. Leaning her hand against the wall of a brick building, the Simpson recovered her normal breathing patterns, but was still very scared of what was going on – however, she felt a glimmer of hope. "Maybe I've lost her..." she thought aloud, referring to the doppelgänger. After waiting for a while, just to be sure she had lost the mysterious girl completely, Lisa stepped out onto the streets of Springfield once again.

In her surge of panic, Lisa had taken random turns in order to lose the doppelgänger. Thus, she had ended up in a part of town she wasn't that well-acquainted with. Beginning to feel cold and lonely, Lisa wrapped herself tight in her clothes as she tried to figure out where exactly in Springfield she was. She couldn't recognise the buildings here... What area was this? Oh, hang on. It's starting to come back. Following her memory, Lisa took a turn and discovered the place she used to attend frequently – Springfield Elementary School.

The building didn't seem to look any different from when she left all those years ago. Maybe her old teachers were still working there, too. Probably not, though. Lots of things could have happened there after she left. Continuing to stare at her old school, an ache of nostalgia started to overcome Lisa. Sure, it wasn't the best place for her to receive an education back then, but the school was a strong reminder of a time when she wasn't depressed, when she wasn't a shut-in, when she was willing to remember the past. Tears were starting to form in Lisa's eyes from the recollection of the more happier memories in her life – was she finally acknowledging her past properly? Sniffing, she dried them with the sleeve of her coat.

That was when she saw her on the school roof.

It was the doppelgänger, directly staring at Lisa.

The Simpson's mouth went agape in horror – she couldn't have found her here! No way! She thought she'd lost her! And how did she manage to climb on the roof, anyway? There were so many questions rushing through Lisa's mind that she had to speak out now – she had to confront the doppelgänger.

"Who are you?" Lisa called out towards the girl, more scared than she was before but unwilling to back down. "Why are you following me? Why do you look so much like me when I was younger? Please tell me!"

The girl merely stared at Lisa back. The snow carried on falling blindly as the tension between the two only increased. After a brief silence, Lisa became irritated.

"_Tell me!_" Lisa shouted at her. "_Answer my questions!_" The girl continued to ignore her. Couldn't she actually speak at all, making her mute? Was she just a ghost that happened to be haunting Lisa? Or was she really going crazy...?

Seemingly uninterested anymore, the girl turned around and walked away on the roof, out of Lisa's view. Still desperate for answers, the Simpson ran to the side of the school and tried to see through the chainlink fence that surrounded the playground. However, there were no lights on at all, rendering it impossible to see life moving over the fence. Lisa sighed and cursed herself - the doppelgänger had disappeared thrice now. It would be too dangerous to break into the school just to search for someone who had the possibility of not even being an actual human. Accepting defeat, Lisa carried on with her quest towards the power plant – if she could even get there now. She didn't even know if she was going the right way. Starting to feel the cold reach her bones, the Simpson felt like breaking down and crying – she was now lost and someone was following her every move.

She should have called it quits right then. Yet she continued to walk further through Springfield...

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**I apologize if the story is starting to feel rushed and/or weird. At heart, I wanted this to be a psychological story, hence the strangeness. And sadly, yes, things _are_ going to get worse for Lisa.**

**I'm certain the reviews for this chapter will be interesting...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Had a bit of Writer's Block while writing this chapter, which is probably why I don't think that this is one of my best pieces of writing. (Actually, I always criticize my writing afterwards... but isn't that kinda like a good thing?)**

**Anyhow, I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter. :)**

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**Chapter Three**

The snow was now blowing wildly in Lisa's face as she travelled across Springfield, passing aimlessly through the desolate streets, even though she still had no idea of where she was exactly. From how dangerous the weather was becoming, it was very likely there would be a heavy snowstorm soon – and Lisa would be taking the brunt of it if she couldn't find shelter now. But the only shelter she knew of was her home; and she had gone much too far away to quickly return to it. Lisa cursed herself once again – why was she still so determined to get to the power plant even though she was now completely lost?

Still carrying on with her journey against all her common sense, the Simpson let her mind detach itself and wander away from the world. As she continued to walk through Springfield, Lisa stopped thinking, letting her head fall down to see the ground. She was not watching where she was going, but she still felt as if she were being directed by something – or someone else. She could have been anywhere in the town, but Lisa's trance was only broken by the sound of grass below her feet.

Immediately puzzled, Lisa lifted her head and began to register her new location. All her eyes could see were darkened, snow-covered fields and a long, major road. Turning back, she spotted the last of the towering buildings and surburban houses of Springfield. Lisa didn't know how, but she had managed to find her way out of town.

Realizing that she was now completely stuck out in the country in treacherous weather, the Simpson felt like collapsing to the floor. There would most likely be no drivers heading to Springfield she could get a ride from. There were no telephone booths she could call her parents from, either – not that she had any money on her. She didn't even know if she was going the right way to the power plant after all. Lisa was all ready to give up and break down in the face of a harsh snowstorm, until she saw _her_ again.

The doppelgänger was standing just across the road.

And she was staring right at Lisa.

All the Simpson could do was stare at her back with glazed eyes. How the hell did she manage to follow her this far?! Unless she wasn't actually human at all... Continuing to stare at her, Lisa wondered what the doppelgänger was thinking of her right now. From the disgust and pity whirling in the girl's cold eyes, she was probably assuming that she was looking at a complete waste of a human being. _And at this point of my life, it might not be too far from the truth,_ Lisa acknowledged silently.

The two carried on staring at each other for who knew how long. Then, without uttering a single word (as previous), the girl turned back and began to run towards a nearby field. However, curiosity was filling Lisa. She had just been at her closest towards the doppelgänger since she had first spotted her near the bus stop. Right now, she had a chance of solving the mystery. Without hesitation, Lisa began to run after the girl.

The wind was blowing at gale-strong force, throwing the falling snow right in her face and making it difficult to see where she was going. But Lisa was not at all deterred - nothing as mundane as the weather was going to stop her finding out the truth about the mysterious girl. Running as fast as she could in the deep snow of the fields, Lisa barged through multiple bushes and a couple of trees in her aim of reaching the doppelgänger. Her clothes were being ruined, but she didn't care. She wanted to find her, and damn, she was going to.

But once Lisa approached a dead end in the form of a small riverbank, she realised she had been duped again. The girl had disappeared once more, as if she had been blown away with the snow.

Feeling white-hot anger burn inside her, Lisa wanted to kick and scream into the air. This wasn't fair! She'd just had a chance to solve and understand everything that was happening to her, and that... _kid _had managed to escape from her sight once again! It was all becoming too much for the Simpson – all she wanted to do at that moment was fall to the ground, hunch herself up and lie there in the snowstorm. But obviously, that would be a stupid move – Lisa would most likely die from hypothermia. Knowing that she was still much too far away from home, she reluctantly decided to walk up the riverbank to see if she could find anyone who would possibly help her.

As she trekked up the river, snow still blowing in her face, a sense of deja vu began to puzzle Lisa. This area was becoming familiar to her, yet she couldn't recognise it. Searching through her memories yielded nothing. _It might be the snow making the scenery look different,_ she concluded. Still in thought, Lisa carried on up the river, until she spotted a structure of some kind. Her eyes widening, she started to pick up her pace, hoping that it was some kind of building with someone inside who could help her – but as she came closer to the structure, its shape became much more familiar.

It was the cooling towers of the nuclear power plant.

Despite thinking that she had managed to render herself lost, Lisa had ended up at her destination after all. But the surprise victory posed a strange question – somehow, did the doppelgänger manage to lead the Simpson in the right direction? Probably not, considering how annoyingly deceptive the kid was... But ever since she had stepped outside her house, weird things had been happening to Lisa. Logic didn't seem to matter anymore.

Heading towards the power plant, Lisa Simpson had a look of utter defiance. She still didn't truly know her real motives for visiting the plant, but that wasn't important in her eyes. What was much more important was the fact that she was finally here.

And no-one, not even a doppelgänger, was going to stop her from entering.

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**I still don't think that this is the best chapter, but hey, at least I tried. Hopefully, the next chapter will be better. Feel free to read and review. :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is actually the second-to-last chapter for this story. I did always plan it to be short, however...**

**I hope you guys will enjoy this new chapter.**

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**Chapter Four**

Exploring the darkened corridors of the nuclear power plant, Lisa still couldn't believe how on earth she had managed to get into the facility so easily – until she remembered the other times herself and her family had managed to break in undetected. Security issues had obviously not improved since she'd gone into isolation. All Lisa had to do was sneak under the barrier to the car park, out of view of a security guard in the entrance booth (who was most likely sleeping on the job, considering how she wasn't immediately caught.)

Even though the Simpson wanted to finally relax and explore the plant after a very hectic journey, she couldn't – the likely threat of on-duty night-workers put her on the edge. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if they spotted her; or worse, if they somehow recognised her as the adult daughter of Homer Simpson. Feeling like some sort of covert spy, Lisa crept through the power plant slowly, taking in the poorly-maintained sights while being ever alert for the footsteps of a night-worker.

"Poorly-maintained", however, was probably an understatement regarding the condition of the plant. Even after all this time, Mr. Burns had still clearly not brought the facility up to standard – and from what Lisa saw, it seemed to have gotten _worse_. Radioactive waste was still leaking from drums and pipes, the walls looked even more dilapidated, and at one point, Lisa saw a luminous rat scurrying in front of her, diving into the darkness. The environmentalist was too horrified by the state of the plant to even begin to wonder what had happened here; but it didn't take her long to figure out why. Mr. Burns' miserliness and her father's incompetence were the obvious forces that had drove the plant down further.

Speaking of her father... Where was his workstation? Lisa deduced that he must still be working at the control room in Sector 7-G, because from what she had gathered from family discussions, even after all these years Homer still happened to be a Safety Inspector designated at that sector, with no promotions whatsoever. At that moment, Lisa had an urge to visit Sector 7-G, but she didn't know where she was currently in the plant. Asking for directions was not an option. As a consequence, she decided to forget about it for the time being.

Going deeper into the facility, Lisa was surprised that she hadn't run into any night-workers yet. Come to think of it, she hadn't really seen any other human beings (aside from the security guard) since her journey began. Or any other form of life, for that matter.

_Expect for her – maybe..._

Lisa shivered. She had not encountered the doppelgänger since the previous chase in the snow. In many ways, that was a good thing, but she was still petrified of meeting her again. Still taking caution, Lisa continued further into the plant, the corridors becoming much more darker.

Suddenly, she stopped walking. Under the blackness, a paranoid expression overtook her face.

_**She** was watching her from behind._

Without even thinking to look back to confirm her fears, Lisa started to run again. She was now at grave risk of being caught by the night-workers, but she didn't care. In her state of mind, the doppelgänger had miraculously managed to track the Simpson down to a dark part of the nuclear power plant, and was still following her intently. Questions were rushing through Lisa's mind. _Why is she stalking me?! _she screamed mentally. _Why me in particular? Why does it seem like I'm the only person left in this world? Am I really losing it... No! I saw her clearly multiple times before! Nothing makes sense anymore..._

Tears began to fall from Lisa's eyes. What should have been a nighttime walk had turned into a journey coupled with a battle against insanity. At this point, Lisa was hoping that everything that had happened so far was just a part of a really long nightmare. In desperation, she tried to will herself awake, hoping to find herself in her bedroom again. But it didn't work. She was still running away from someone who most likely didn't exist, yet she could see as clear as the day. Lisa was now praying that she would crash into a night-worker - sure, she would be in huge trouble with the power plant staff and her parents (especially her father), but it would put an end to the madness a lot sooner.

After what seemed to be a long time of running, Lisa came across a passageway with a faint, blue light streaming from it. Stopping immediately and wiping her tears away, she became mesmerized by the light. Looking down the passage, she saw an even brighter blue light far away. Almost forgetting that a doppelgänger was stalking her, Lisa went down the passageway, curious as to what the blue light was.

When the Simpson reached the end of the passage, she quickly realized where the blue light was coming from – the nuclear reactor. Somehow, against all the odds, Lisa had managed to find her way to the heart of the power plant.

Still entranced by the light of the reactor, Lisa continued to stare. She knew she should definitely not be where she was now, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Besides, the night-workers she had feared since she'd arrived seemed to have disappeared, like almost everyone else in Springfield. Watching the reactor glow in earnest, the Simpson wanted to stand there forever; but that peace was interrupted when she spotted a hint of red in the corner of her eye.

She turned to her left. _Oh God, __**no.**_

It was the doppelgänger.

And she was coming towards Lisa.

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**I'm pretty sure I took some artistic liberties regarding real life power plants in this chapter... XD**

**Like I said before, the next chapter will be the last one for this story – and it will reveal why the doppelgänger was following Lisa throughout. So stayed tuned, readers! ;D**

**As usual, read and review. **


	5. Chapter 5

**...And after only around two months of being active, we're on the final chapter for this story. I am actually surprised by how quickly I've reached the ending myself, because my previous SpongeBob SquarePants darkfic took me nearly two _years_ to complete (due to an awful combination of school life and procrastination.) Hence why this story was so short – I didn't really want another fiasco like that.**

**But before I begin rambling on, I'll let you guys read the ending to this. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Five**

The girl continued to head towards Lisa, taking no heed of how uncomfortable she was making her feel. The Simpson was panicking like crazy – after all those moments of distant staring and wild chases, they were finally about to properly meet face-to-face. With every step the doppelgänger took, Lisa could feel the pulsing of the truth much nearer.

She took a good look at the girl – she seemed to be of flesh and blood, like an ordinary human, but after everything that had happened so far, Lisa was now refusing to believe what her eyes were seeing. She could just as easily be a vivid figment of her broken mind, or maybe even some kind of ghost. Ignoring all sense of logic, Lisa stepped towards the girl, holding her hands out to touch her; to see if she was truly human or not.

Interpreting Lisa's movements, the doppelgänger quickly backed away, stating, "No, Lisa," as she did so.

Lisa gasped. It was the first time she had heard the girl speak; and she sounded so much like her when she was eight...

...Wait. She could actually _remember_ what she sounded like at that age? Surely that was an impossible thing for anyone to recall? But how did Lisa manage to recognise her own voice from when she was a little girl? Maybe it was some kind of odd symptom of her growing insanity...

There was an long, awkward silence. The Simpson obviously didn't know what the doppelgänger was thinking, but to herself, a plethora of questions were rushing through her mind. In the background, the nuclear reactor continued to buzz, its blue light still radiating, casting a shadow on one side of both people. If it wasn't for the extreme tension at that moment, the scene would've probably been eerily beautiful. After a while, Lisa finally gained enough courage to speak up with a very important question:

"Please, tell me..." she started, her voice cracking, "...Why have you been following me all night?"

The doppelgänger's head fell down. Lisa decided to try again:

"Why do you look so much like me when I was your age?"

It was a stupid question, but Lisa was very desperate for answers by this point – though alas, the doppelgänger turned her head away. The act struck a nerve with the Simpson for some reason. _Why is she staying mute now? _she thought._ She spoke to me clearly just before! Is she trying to annoy me even more?_ Becoming increasingly irritated, Lisa asked the girl another question:

"Who are you _really_?"

No response.

That's it - no more playing nice. Stepping towards the girl once again, arm outstretched, Lisa could feel defiance rushing through her veins. Damn common sense and decency to hell; she wanted to learn the truth right now, and this time, she wasn't going to be stopped. Highly alarmed by Lisa's actions, the doppelgänger stepped back and held her arms up in self-defence, dreading the moment when she would touch her.

And that was when Lisa felt the skin of her hands.

It was cold and clammy, like she was touching a dead body. The texture felt so unnatural that Lisa pulled away immediately with a yelp, recoiling at the sense. The doppelgänger merely stared at her with glassy, angered eyes. After she recovered from touching the horrible texture, Lisa glanced at the girl, baffled and enraged.

"Tell me now," she said darkly, "who the hell are you?"

The doppelgänger, realising that the crazed woman in front of her was to no longer be left in limbo, composed herself and took a breath. With the opening of her mouth came three words that stunned Lisa:

"I'm your past."

The Simpson's eyes went wide open at that short sentence. 'I'm your past'? What did that even mean? ...Of course Lisa knew what it meant. Throughout her life, she always understood a metaphor when she heard one.

"So..." she began, still taken aback by the revelation, "...You're saying that you represent my past, or to that effect?"

The girl nodded.

"Well then, are you a human?" she asked further, still shivering from how her skin felt.

She looked away from Lisa's eyes. Not again... But unfortunately for the girl, something inside Lisa was breaking.

"Then why have you been following me?" she asked again, her voice rising. "Why did you run away from me outside of town?! _Why did you lead me to here?! ARE YOU A HUMAN, OR AM I GOING CRAZY?!"_

The doppelgänger stepped back again when Lisa screamed out her last question, but her outburst prompted her to speak the most since they had truly met:

"Look at yourself, Lisa," she started, not disguising the contempt she had for her older self. "You're a depressed lowlife who's shut herself away from the world ever since you left high school. And now you're busy yelling at nothing in a power plant!"

_'Yelling at nothing'... So is she really some kind of self-aware hallucination?_ Lisa thought, beginning to reflect on her actions.

"You had so much potential," the doppelgänger continued, "but you threw it all in the wind. You had a family that truly loved you, and friends that would follow you to the ends of the earth, but you pushed them away – and as a consequence, you're now alone in this world. Essentially, you've thrown your entire life away."

Lisa became horrified at the realisation of what she had done to herself. She never wanted to become what she had ended up as now – she wanted to make something of herself, to make a difference. But those chances had certainly disappeared now.

_And it was all her fault._

Then, something inside her brain completely snapped. Suddenly, Lisa felt as if she couldn't take any more. Walking towards her younger self, the Simpson was no longer aware of what she was doing. Every movement she was making was now at complete random. Noticing the odd look on her older self, the girl became incredibly frightened.

And then, Lisa put her hands around the doppelgänger's neck.

Realising that her older self was trying to strangle her, the girl attempted to break free, but this only made Lisa hold her tighter. The immediate struggle was intense – the girl tried to kick Lisa with her feet and scream, to force her to let go, but the Simpson was having none of it. She didn't know why she was doing it to the girl who represented her past, but all she knew was that she had to die – even though she was only a vision created by her severely broken mind. In reality, she was merely strangling thin air.

During the (imaginary) struggle, Lisa ended up having her back against the railing, which protected her from falling into the nuclear reactor. Not that she cared about it, of course – all she cared about was killing the girl.

_Even if it meant the risk of killing herself?_

And just as she realised where she was, the girl managed to kick her off-guard, prompting Lisa to fall over the railing, taking both of them over the other side – with Lisa's hands still around the girl's neck.

The fall must have been quick, but to the Simpson, it felt like slow motion. At that instant, she realised she was about to die. Quickly letting go of her younger self, she could feel the air rushing past her, knowing that her time was almost up.

_I now regret ever throwing my life away, _Lisa thought for the last time. _Maybe death will be the only way I can atone for what I've done..._

* * *

**...And I'm going to end it there. :P Just imagine the scenario the next morning, when the employees at the plant discover a dead body in the reactor...**

**Anyhow, I want to thank everyone who's been reading this story. Without your encouragement, I probably wouldn't have even carried on with this beyond the first chapter. Your comments mean a lot to me. :)**

**Now you might be asking me, "Do you have any new ideas for Simpsons stories?" Not really, sadly (aside from an idea for a crossover that needs more development.) I may not be posting anything new for The Simpsons section right now, but you might see me again someday.**

**Sincerely, Third Kind.**


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